


The Contestant Named Tony

by writersethos



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, i wrote this in an hour and didn't revise it at all, slice of life-ish, this is specifically for One (1) person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 18:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19301149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersethos/pseuds/writersethos
Summary: A boy with an easily distracted mind gets tongue-twisted.





	The Contestant Named Tony

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TKPony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TKPony/gifts).



> This definitely isn't meant to be taken seriously at all soooo just have fun with it

“It’s so nice to be back in Lumiose City.” Lena slid back in the comfy chair outside of Café Soleil. The sun was shining bright overhead, a first for Lumiose in the past few weeks. “I’ve been slammed with modeling gigs for the past month back in Snowbelle. It’s refreshing to finally get away for a bit and just relax.”

Marlow nodded and hummed a quiet agreement, taking a sip of his tea and looking out onto the South Boulevard. He kept tapping his foot, or picking up his drink and putting it down again, or checking his watch.

A concerned look flashed across Lena’s face and she said, “Is something wrong, Marlow? You look anxious. Am I keeping you too long?” She knew the contest season was over in Hoenn, but of course that didn’t stop Marlow from wanting to practice. When he didn’t even look up in response, she could tell something was up. Leaning over, Lena waved a hand in front of him and said, “Helloooo! Kalos to Marlow? Are you even in there?”

In response, Marlow flinched up to meet Lena’s passive gaze. He gave a nervous laugh and said, “Yeah, sorry, I’m just a bit… distracted. That’s all.” He was expecting something to happen, clearly, although what it was continued to be a mystery to Lena.

She tilted her head in response. “What are you hiding, Marlow? We’re friends, you know that, right?” Lena was vaguely aware of his… issues growing up. They both had their fair share of trauma, and it was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t spend too much time spilling it out to each other. Last time they let that happen, they were up so late crying that Lena missed her train back to Snowbelle, and Marlow’s friends had begun searching Lumiose for him. Regardless, she continued, “You can tell me if something’s wrong, dude-”

For the first time in their conversation, Marlow made an audible sound by way of a large gasp. He ecstatically stood from his seat and started waving with both arms. Lena turned in her seat and saw a total stranger grinning wildly and walking directly towards them.

Turning back in her seat, she looked at Marlow and said, “Who’s that? One of your Lumiose friends?”

Beaming, Marlow looked down at Lena and replied, “No, silly, that’s my contest partner! He’s Tony, and I-” He cut himself off with a look of horror. His face morphed between shock, confusion, and ultimately hilarity as he fell back into his seat cackling.

This entire meeting was making Lena more and more confused. In a last-ditch effort to figure out what was going on, she took out an ornate Love Ball and pressed the button in its center. In a flash of light, the Pokeball opened and Lena’s Kirlia appeared next to her. She leaned over and said, “Hey, do you understand what’s going on here?” Kirlia just shrugged her shoulders while Marlow continued to laugh so hard he struggled to breathe.

At this point, the man – Tony, it seemed – had about reached their table outside Café Soleil. Lena stood up and made her way over to him, choosing to not participate in whatever the insanity that Marlow had wrapped himself in was.

Cautiously yet politely, Lena stuck her hand out and firmly shook the man’s hand. “Hello! I’m Lena, one of Marlow’s friends.”

Returning the handshake, ‘Tony’ warmly said, “Nice to meet you Lena. Great nail polish, by the way!”

Lena looked down at her pale lilac nails and blushed slightly. Quickly returning her focus to him, she said, “So, you must be Marlow’s contest partner Tony then, right? It’s very nice to meet you!”

Marlow’s laughing doubled in intensity as soon as she finished her sentence. She twirled to look back at him and thought _What is the matter with him!?_ Deciding to just continue her current state of pretending he isn’t there, she turned back to Marlow’s contest partner, only to find that he was just as confused as she was. There was a slight difference, though: he was confused at _Lena_.

The world was nearly spinning for Lena at this point. Shaking his head, ‘Tony’ said, “I’m sorry, I think you have me mistaken for someone else. My name isn’t Tony.”

After that, Lena just groaned and said, “I’m so over this.” She grabbed the man’s wrist and started slowly dragging him over to Marlow, who was only barely recovering from his laughing fit.

Upon reaching Marlow, she stood beside his contest partner, hands on her hips, and said, “ _You_ are fake news. Why’d you tell me his name was Tony?”

It took all of his willpower not to burst out laughing again. At this point, he realized that some of the Soleil’s customers were staring at them from inside of the café, which made him slightly nervous. He took a few deep breaths, then began to try and explain himself. “I didn’t _say_ his name was Tony. Okay, well, technically I did, but I didn’t mean to… You see, what happened was… God. Oh my god. Okay. I meant to say ‘he’s _tiny_ ’, but somehow ‘he’s _Tony_ ’ came out instead. You guys understand… right?”

Lena and the apparently-not-named-Tony stood in silence. They slowly turned to face each other after processing that entire ordeal and just groaned in response.

Of _course_ Marlow would do that.


End file.
